Fantasy Baseball Today - 2020-21 Free Agency Invitational! (11/10 Fantasy Baseball Podcast)

Episode Date: November 10, 2020

Who's ready to predict the MLB offseason? I know Scott White is! Before we take a look at free agents, let's hit the latest news and notes (6:13). Devin Williams and Kyle Lewis won the Rookie of the Year awards while Trey Mancini has been taking batting practice. ... Let's begin the inaugural Free Agency Invitational with Trevor Bauer (13:19). Where does he land and is it on a one-year deal? ... Is J.T. Realmuto really going to leave the Phillies (18:12)? Would that change his Fantasy value? ... What about George Springer (20:32)? ... How much would it hurt DJ LeMahieu's Fantasy value if he left the New York Yankees (24:19)? ... Is Marcell Ozuna headed back to the Braves (27:02)? Who are this offseason's biggest trade targets (32:31)? Where might Lindor and/or Arenado land? ... We wrap up with some of the remaining mid-level free agents (43:18). ... Email us at [e-mail]. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: youtube.com/FantasyBaseballToday 'Fantasy Baseball Today' is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Castbox and wherever else you listen to podcasts.  Follow our FBT team on Twitter: @FBTPod, @AdamAizer, @CTowersCBS, @CBSScottWhite, @Roto_Frank Join our Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/fantasybaseballtoday For more fantasy baseball coverage from CBS Sports, visit https://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/baseball/ To hear more from the CBS Sports Podcast Network, visit https://www.cbssports.com/podcasts/ To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the fantasy baseball today podcast from CBS Sports. I drive, center field, and swing. This is magnificent. Got a fantasy question? Email fantasy baseball at CBSI.com. Get ready to win your league. Well, fantasy becomes reality. Now here's Frank, Scott, Chris, and Adam.

Where will Trevor Bauer and George Springer land this off-season? It's time to play the guessing game. Welcome to Fantasy baseball today. on a Tuesday, November 10th, Frank Stamphle reunited with the man, the myth, the legend. Scott White, I've got to say, Scott, you really chose the perfect week to take off. It was a little tough to get work done last week, admittedly. That's why I took it off, Frank. Good job, man.

I know what I'm doing. And I imagine there wasn't a lot of baseball news either. So what on earth were you talking about on this podcast? I don't know. I didn't listen to it. Oh, well, at least you're honest, Scott. I can always bet on you for honesty, if nothing else, Scott. And of course, fantastic fantasy baseball analysis. Last week, I don't know, we talked about like Malik Smith being signed to the Mets, something like, I don't know, there was something else in there. But I think it's going to be a long off season in a very cold stove. I'm not sure how warm this stove is going to be heating up here, Scott. But you know what? There are a lot of free agents to talk about. And obviously there will be fantasy implications, and we will keep everyone up to date on those as they come out.

We'll have some breaking news podcast for some of the bigger names that signed. So make sure that you are subscribed here again to fantasy baseball today. Scott, I mean, what did you do all week? I mean, did you have fun? You party, hang out with the kids, get anything done? Yeah, mostly hung out with the kids, which is how I spend most of the weeks when I'm working to, you know, had the nights to myself.

and that was nice. Well, myself and my wife, of course. But yeah, just mostly tried to relax when the kids were in bed and just keep my mind out of baseball off work for a while when they weren't. And my son, my oldest son, turned six this past week, so we had his birthday party. Very nice. Does that make your son a Scorpio?

I don't know. I don't know what anybody. I know what I am. I don't have the whole calendar figured out. I have no idea. I have no idea. But yeah, it was good. It was good.

Scott, I don't know if you know this, but we're actually recording this Monday, November 9. Today is my actual birthday when we're recording this. Oh, my goodness. I did see that on Facebook. Oh, my goodness gracious. I wanted to,

I wanted to slip it in there, a little surprise, happy birthday to Frankie S. Instead, you nonchalantly brought it up yourself, which I don't know what that, I don't know how that reflects on you, but, you know, I've done it before too on the podcast, so I shouldn't be so harsh. Yeah. I mean, that's why I asked about your son being a Scorpio, because Scorpios don't get the best rep.

And I am a Scorpio, but I'd like to imagine that I'd represent them pretty well. The reason why I asked you, what did he got, Scott? I was going to say, I think November's pretty popular birthday month. I have no data to back this up, but I'm just deducing logically, you know, thinking nine months before November. Yeah, no, I think it's a pretty popular birthday month. Yeah, I mean, if we're being honest, nine months before this time of year is Valentine's Day. So a lot of children being born would in November would not surprise me. There would be data on this, right?

Yeah, I mean, there has to be. somewhere, but I haven't looked into it myself. The reason why I bring to subs guide is, I was, I've been playing some stuff, you know, I've been watching some shows. I'm watching The Haunting of Bligh Manor, per Adam's request. It's very boring so far, but hopefully it gets better. I've been playing Donkey Kong Country for the original Super Nintendo, and I know that you are a big video game guy.

You have a video game podcast, all that's fit for 8 bits. So I wanted to ask you, have you ever encountered Donkey Kong Country? Scott, this game is killing me. I'm playing it like remade on the switch. And I, how was this game made for kids? Because I am struggling, Scott. Like, ready to rip my hair out.

These old video games are tough. I kind of missed the Super Nintendo at the height of my game playing days. I did play, you know, I did have some exposure to Donkey Kong country, but didn't get into it enough to advance very far. But I mean, that's the thing.

Like my podcast, all that's fit for eight bits, you know, eight bits. It focuses on original Nintendo games. So even before Donkey Kong country. But like those old games, that was all the replayability was the difficulty. There wasn't much actual content in the cartridges. So to make it worthwhile, they just had to get you to replay it over and over again. So yeah, they're tough. They're tough.

It helps now with like save states and that sort of thing to get through them. quicker, more efficiently. But they are made to be difficult. And that they are. We spoke about it before we started recording here. If I didn't have like these suspend points within the switch virtual console, man, I can't imagine playing

just within the realm of doggie con country with the same points that they allow you. So yeah, that's a little update on me, a little update on Scott. But let's get you a little bit of an update on baseball. Of course, we'll make a little friendly competition out of this, Scott. I will try and predict where some of the big name free agents are going to land,

some of the top trade targets where they could potentially land, and then some mid-to-lower-level names as well. We'll do that a little bit later on, and I got some news and notes. So let's dive right in. Devin Williams, maybe to the surprise of some. He won the National League rookie of the year, 0.33 ERA, a 0.63 whip. He allowed just one earned run over 27 innings pitched while striking out 53.

Devin Williams came up this year and obviously setting up for Josh Hader in the Brewer's bullpen, ridiculous changeup on the other side. We saw the American League rookie of the year was Kyle Lewis, of course a favorite of Scott White. We all remember how that went down mid-season. And Kyle Lewis won the rookie of the year unanimously. I thought that actually was a little bit surprising. I thought Luis Robert, Luis Robber. I'm still trying to figure out what we're doing with this name here, Scott. But Kyle Lewis was really like a tale of two seasons where he got off to that hot start and then really cooled off. So anything to see here?

Anything you'd like to add on either Devin Williams or Kyloos? I think Devin Williams will, yeah, actually for both. Devin Williams is a name who maybe didn't get as much attention as he deserved during the season. I mean, he was kind of what Josh Hader used to be before Josh Hater became a closer in that, like, clearly very valuable in those five-by-five leagues because he's crushing it with the ratios and gets a huge volume, like a lot of multi-inning appearances. 53 strikeouts, that's 17.7 per nine innings. 53 strikeouts compared to eight hits allowed for Devin Williams this year.

There's an incredible change-up, and, you know, there's been so many rumors about Josh Hader getting traded eventually that maybe Devin Williams does enter the saves picture at some point in the near future, but regardless he'll have value at least in five by five leagues. I don't know that I'll have much in points leagues, but in five by five, he's still going to be,

I think he's going to be a top 15 reliever for me next year. And then Kyle Lewis, yeah, if you weren't following the whole saga as it was playing out, didn't have much faith in him at the start when he was crushing it, eventually came around when the plate discipline number started to look better. And then he decided to collapse over the rest of the season, started striking out a ton again.

His September numbers were pretty dreadful. And so I am not going to be so high on Kyle Lewis heading into next year, even though he got the hardware. Yeah, 1.47 with a 550 OPS in September, striking out 33 times in 89 plate appearances. I'm not saying he's not going to be worth drafting at all, but I think he's outside my top 40 outfielders in my initial rankings. And, yeah, I mean, a lot of it does come down to the strikeouts for Kyle Lewis

because his first 28 games, a 23% strikeout rate, its final 30 games, a 35% strikeout rate. So that seems to have contributed to the batting average and the OPS crumbling over that final month of the season, the walks remained pretty consistent all throughout. So while he does strike out a lot, he helps you out a little bit with the walks as well. We did have our first, I guess, decent signing of the offseason. Robbie Ray gets a one-year, $8 million deal from the Toronto Blue Jays. He will remain with that team after being traded mid-season. Of course, he led all of baseball with 45 walks in 51 and two-thirds innings pitched.

He almost had a walk for every inning that he pitched this season. Again, this is Robbie Ray, which is just insane, Scott, how far we've come with Robbie Ray. I assume there's not much to see here from a fantasy perspective. I mean, he had value coming into the season. So anybody who had value coming into this season, it at least deserves a passing interest next season because it was only two months and anything. Just about anything can happen to anybody in two months, as we've talked about before.

I don't have much faith in Robbie Ray anymore. But I think if he lands in the right spot and gets the right coaching, there's obviously still talent there. So, you know, if we're getting glowing reports from him next spring and the spring results look good, I could see him being one of those players who gains traction over the course. course of March and becomes this late round sleeper type. We may not have heard the last of Robbie Ray, but I don't have like it, if I haven't been a dynasty league, I'm not hoping for much. Yeah, Robbie Ray, he is still just 29 years old. He just turned 29 years old. So he's young enough and got a decent amount of swings and misses still is here, 12.6% swinging strike rate. It was down

a little bit from where it's been years past, but man, just the walk, 7.8 walks per 9. for Robbie Ray. Even by his standards, that is just absolutely ridiculous. Trey Mancini, who was attempting to return from colon cancer, has been taking batting practice recently.

Reminder that back in 2019, Trey Mancini was just ridiculous for the Baltimore Orioles. Hit 291 with an 899 OPS, 35 home runs, 106 runs scored 97 RBI. And this is definitely fantasy relevant, Scott, because he was basically a top 12 option,

regardless of format by the middle of the 29th season and just the way he closed it out too. And great ballpark to hit in. And it seems like the Orioles are moving in the right direction. They have Ryan Mountcastle. They have some other prospects on the way too. So obviously we're rooting for Tray Mancini, but this is actually pivotal for fantasy as well.

Yeah, I wish I had my rankings numbered because I could tell you exactly where I have him for next year. But I saw this news as I was putting it together. I believe he'll just be first. I believe he'll just be outfield eligible next year since nobody comes back from a year off with dual eligibility. Yeah, and I have him pretty high. Oh, I actually have him one spot behind Kyle Lewis, who I actually have in my top 40. I have Kyle Lewis 38th, Trey Mancini 39th.

However, Mancini is looking healthy and more certain for the start of 2021. I am sure I will move him ahead of Kyle Lewis because I was pretty high on him. coming into this year. And just a reminder to everyone out there that our very early rankings are published on the site, and you can find them if you hover over the baseball tab on the fantasy section of cbsports.com, you will see rankings, and we have some very early ones there. They will change, without a doubt, millions of times before we get to February, March, whatever it is.

All right, so here's how this is going to work. I will award 10 points per big free. So any of the top five free agents, of course that is Trevor Bauer, J.C. Rilumuto, George Springer, DJ LaMahue, Marcel Osuna. I consider those five, the cream of the crop, and if you get any of those correct, you get 10 points in this little game that we're playing. I have three trade candidates. Now, if none of the trade candidates are traded away, that's fine.

You don't lose any points. But if you predict what team they are traded to, and they are traded to that team, then you will be awarded 15 points, Scott. And for the mid to lower level free agents, I have 10 of those towards the end. You will get five points for those. So I feel like this was a pretty fair scoring system. Does that sound right, Scott? Sure.

All right, so let's jump right in. Trevor Bauer, who, of course, everyone knows my rocky relationship with Trevor Bauer at this point. Just had a ridiculous 2020 season. We'll find out later this week whether or not he will win the National League Cy Young. I assume that he will. A 1.73 ERA, 0.79 whip with 100 strikeouts in. 73 innings pitched for Bauer this past season, Scott. What do you think he lands?

Well, this is especially interesting, right? Because there are some places where we feel like Trevor Bauer wouldn't want to go. There are some places where he might not be so welcome. He has also said in the past that he only wants to sign one-year deals once he's a free agent because that gives him the highest earning potential. I think he has a bet with a friend over that. However, his agent has said at the start of this offseason that he's open to multi-year deals.

Certainly if anybody's going to get market value this off-season on a multi-year deal, it's the presumptive Cy Young winner for the NL coming off this historic partial season and, you know, a-starting pitchers. I mean, those guys get paid. So, like, considering the year he just had, I think Bauer's going to end up taking the L on that bet with his childhood friend and giving it and taking a multi-year deal. I am going to say he signs with the Dodgers.

Oh, man, the rich get richer, huh? Coming off a World Series championship, Scott is predicting that Trevor Bauer lands with the Dodgers. Imagine that top three of course. Clayton Kirshall, Walker, Bueller, and Trevor Bauer. And they still have David Price, who sat out this past season, and they have all these young pitchers as well. So, yeah. I never want to count them out, and I actually think he's going to land in California as well, Scott.

Of course, he played his college ball at UCLA. I believe he is a native of California as well. So I think that he will land there, and there are, there's no shortage of teams to choose from. I think he's going to go to the other Los Angeles, of course, with the, you know, my quotes, my air quotes here, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. And they have Mike Trout, they have Anthony Rendon,

and you really don't want to waste away their prime years. And right now they kind of are because the angels don't have any pitching or not really, they just don't have great pitching. And they haven't had great pitching for a while. They kind of had this resurgence out of Dylan Bundy and we'll see if he can carry that over. and they have some interesting names, Andrew Hini,

but they need that guy, they need the ace. And I think Trevor Bauer could be that guy, and there have been some rumors to the Giants as well. The Giants might be a little bit aggressive here in the off-season. So I think between the Giants, the Dodgers, and the Angels, he probably lands with one of those teams, and I'm going to go with the Angels. Yeah, I think they all make sense.

He would go to a team that would let him do his thing and pretty much leave him alone. and when you know the fact that the angels have Joe Madden as their manager I think they would qualify for that the Giants of course their front office

their general manager comes from the Oakland organization so yeah any of them seem possible I want to send them to the Braves on like a one year $40 million deal but I think I think Trevor Bauer is going to end up signing a multi-year deal

he did grow up a Braves fan though Worth worth noting. He tweeted that out during the NLCS. And I recently wrote an article about six players to sell high on in Dynasty. You can find that on CBSports.com, and surprise, surprise, Trevor Bauer is one of them. Does that mean you have to sell Bauer?

No, sell high. Obviously, there's a lot of volatility in Bauer's ERA over the past four years. So I think now is the time to maximize his trade value if that's something that you're looking into doing. J.C. Real Muto is the next man up here, Scott. who banged up towards the end of the season, but we still both have ranked

as the number one catcher heading into 2021. He played 47 games, hit 266, 11 home runs, 32 RBI, 33 runs, and four steals, a career high, 840 OPS for Real Muto. What do you think he lands? That's a good question. I feel like the Mets have won a real Muto to happen for so long that this is what,

is the time it happens. You know, they don't have to give up anything to get him except money, which we presume they always have. And they have a needed catcher after letting Wilson Ramos go. They do have a big catcher prospect, but he's very young. He's a few years away. I think Real Muto would be, would bridge to him perfectly. And I'm kind of stealing your prediction here, I see, looking at the notes, but I think it makes a lot of sense. Real Muto to the Mets. Yeah. And it would be a, decent size blow to the Phillies, who of course gave up Sixto Sanchez in the trade to get J.T. Real Muto. And now it looks like Sixtho Sanchez is, to some extent,

going to be a useful pitcher for real-life purposes and for fantasy purposes. So it kind of feels like the Phillies might have to overspend to make sure that they get J.T. Real Muto back. But I just think it's a perfect storm for the Mets who, as you mentioned, decline Wilson Ramos. Steve Cohen comes in as the new owner. he has money to spend. Look, they've had money to spend it in the past.

The Wilpon just didn't want to spend it, but now they actually have someone who's in there who's willing to spend and is also a fan of the team and just imagine that lineup. Pete Alonzo, J.C. Real Muto, Dominic Smith, Brandon Nemo, Jeff McNeil. I mean, that would be a potentially

very, very deep lineup. Scott, do you think it would be better for Real Mutual's value if he lands with the Mets rather than staying with the Phillies? I don't think it matters. that much. The Phillies Park is a little more hitter friendly, but the Mets isn't especially pitcher-friendly. I don't

think it really matters. Yeah, I would tend to agree with that. All right, so we have, Scott has Bauer to the Dodgers, I have Bowers to the Angels, and we both have Rio Muto. To the Mets. The next man up, we have George Springer, who got off to a bit of a slow start. His first 28 games, he hit 194 with

five home runs this past season. His final 23 games, he hit 3-41 with nine home runs. and he was dealing with an elbow issue for a while. He got hit by a pitch on his elbow, and it seemed like that was affecting his production. But he finished strong. He had a pretty solid postseason as well,

where he hit four more home runs in 13 postseason games, and obviously a stalwart in the head-to-head points format, Scott, because we know he has such great plate discipline. Again, this is George Springer. Where do you think he lands in the offseason? So we've seen over the past few years, right-handed sluggers especially, like right-handed slugging corner men,

which I mean, Springer can play centerfield, but he's better off as a cornerman. They tend not to get what everybody thinks they're going to get, and they end up with fewer options than people think they are going to have. So Springer, you know, considering he's already 31, so how many good years does he have left? This seems like the sort of guy that the Rockies throw a bunch of money at just because he's easy to outbid everybody for.

And, you know, I don't know the Rockies are really going anywhere as far as contention, but they have a lot of uninspiring outfield options that haven't panned out, that maybe had some potential at one point. There's room for Springer. So that's my bold prediction. George Springer to the Rockies. George Springer, I mean, come on. He's going to take playing time away from the likes of Rymel Tapia and Ian Desmond.

Bulls and bases this year that Tapia. And who else we got here? Sam Hilliard. Come on. Oh, yeah. Sam Hilliard. Like, there has to be a prospect somewhere that George Springer would be blocking, right, long term. And we're just never going to see said prospect.

That just seems like what the Rockies do. And you told me that you were. You were going to make this one of your predictions before we started recording. And my response was, can he pitch? Because the Rockies seemingly never have enough pitching. And I guess their strategies is to outslug everyone, which has always been their strategies. So I think this would be quite surprising.

Would be, Scott, it would be ridiculous for fantasy. I mean... It'd be great, yeah. Like, Trevor's Story is a free agent next off season. But, I mean, if we get a full season of Story, Springer, Aronado. Oh my gosh, it's just like,

that's fun. That's definitely fun. Charlie Black is still with the team, obviously, and some other names there to be excited about. But, yeah, I'm going to go, I think that there are a few different teams that can use them. I saw some rumors today about the Blue Jays

potentially being interested. Their outfield isn't terrible. The Cardinals, I spoke about them before the 2020 season, and during the season, I don't think that their lineup is very good, and I think that they can use somebody like,

George Springer, but I'm actually, I'm going to peg him to the Phillies, Scott. And it's because the Phillies lose out on J.C. Real Muto. And this would be three off seasons in a row where they sign Harper Wheeler Springer. That's a pretty big splash. But I think losing out on Real Muto, they got to make something happen here. And they bring in George Springer. He is from Connecticut. He went to Yukon.

So I could see him kind of remaining somewhere in the North. All right, so Scott has George Springer to the Rockies, and I have him going to the Phillies. Next up, DJ LaMayhew. I'm getting a little nervous here, Scott. I got to say, as a Yankee fan, I'm getting a little bit nervous. DJ LaMayhew has been ridiculous the past two seasons coming off a year where he just hit 364, 10 homers, 41 ribbies, 41 runs scored rather, 27 RBI, and just has been ridiculous since he has joined the Yankees.

Yankees and he is our top-ranked second baseman heading into next season. Do you think he remains with the New York Yankees? Well, it's possible. It sounds like they're not thrilled with Glabre Torres at shortstop, right? And so for La Mejue to come back, it kind of requires Torres to stay at shortstop. Yep. You know, the Yankees can outspend anybody they want. So if they want LeMayhew enough, then he'll be back.

But if they want to go another direction, I mean, obviously, LeMaye's not young. He's, how old is he now? 32, 33. I suspect he'll age well, but, you know, that's just kind of a hunch. He's 32. I'm going with the Angels here. I'm going with the Angels because they always have money to spend.

They have an opening at second base after trading Tommy Lestella. They got Franklin Barreto back in that deal, but gosh, who knows what to make of him. I don't have, I don't have high hopes for them for him. I can't imagine they do either. either. And if Andrewton Simmons is gone, that makes David Fletcher kind of a fixture. It's shortstop, right? So they lose Fletcher's versatility. They need somebody else who can provide that. I think Lamehue makes for a nice fit there. That would just be a nightmare for opposing pitchers, Scott, because between LaMahue, Trout, Rendon, Fletcher, I mean, you're not getting many

strikeouts from that group. And that's a very high collective team batting average as well. So, man, from a fantasy perspective, obviously it's not as good of a ballpark to hit in as Yankee Stadium, but I'm not sure that his counting numbers would really lose all that much because he would be surrounded by some really great talent there with the Angels. All right, so Scott's predicting Lamehue to go out to the West Coast. I'm going to say that he remains with the Yankees. The reasons why I'm a little bit worried, there have been some rumors about The Yankees potentially wanting to cut payroll, which I don't know how much you want to look into that. And, you know, what you brought up about Glaver Torres.

That's why they have been in on some of these Francisco Lindor trade rumors. If the Yankees traded for Lindor, they put him in short, they put Glaber back at second base, problem solved. But that could mean that DJ Lemayhew is on the outside looking in. For now, I will say that LeMayhew remains with the Yankees. Last but not least, Scott, your Atlanta Braves struck gold with Marcel Ozuna, one-year contract. Two years in a row where the Braves have done a fantastic job doing this got. So shout out to them. Of course, in 2019, it was Donaldson, and then it was Marcel O'Suna in 2020.

Just finished as the number one outfielder in both head-to-head points and Roto leagues, hit 328 with an Ops over 1,000, led the National League with 18 home runs and 56 RBI. Marcel O'Zuna, is he headed back to your Atlanta Braves? Oh, I should say he's not. I should say he's not. I may let my heart do the talking here. Let's just talk. Let's see if I can talk myself into it now.

Okay. So what I just said for Springer, right-handed sluggers, being underwhelmed by their offers, especially guys already in their, I was in his 29. So, you know, he's leaving his prime. They tend to be underwhelmed by what they get on the open market. He's strictly a DH at this. point. He can play the outfield, but you don't want him there.

Buster only was saying it looks like the D.H is going to be back in the NL next year. We don't know for sure, but I'm assuming it will be back in the NL. Oh, thank you. The fact of Zune is basically limited to D.H, you know, that lowers his value too, obviously, making it more likely

he's going to be underwhelmed on the market. And Braves certainly want him back. I think it opens the door if nobody's willing to break the bank for Ozuna this off-season it opens the door to him coming back.

Now, I think the Braves would prefer to go a one-year offer, maybe on someone. I don't know if it would be another reclamation project. I don't know if it would just be an old guy like Nelson Cruz, presuming the DHS is in the NL.

But I'm going to say Ozuna back to the Braves. I am. They came very close to bringing Josh Donaldson back. And I think Ozuna is going to be, there's actually going to be even less competition for him than there was for Donaldson. Yeah, and he just fit like a glove with that team as well,

just hitting right in the middle of that order. And that would be the best for his fantasy value is going back to the Atlanta Braves. You brought up an interesting name. If they do miss out on Ozuna, could the Braves get in on Nelson Cruz? That's a name to remember and certainly interesting.

as well. So I hope the DH remains in the National League. I saw a few predictions with Ozuna landing with the White Sox, Scott, which would just be so fun. Like, you know, I was raving about the White Sox entering the 2020 season. I mean, you add Ozuna to that lineup with a Brayu and Tim Anderson and oh my gosh. That would just be so fun. I don't see that happening. I've heard this team kind of rumored. And I'm going to go with the Texas Rangers. It's their second year in Global Life Field, and I think they want to make a bit of a splash and help their lineup out, a lineup that struggled mightily this past season.

Joey Gallo is up and down every single year, and Willie Calhoun has not lived up to expectations. So I think they make a bit of a splash. Maybe we get like a three, four-year deal here for Marcelo Zuna. I think he goes to the Texas Rangers. I certainly hope that he goes back to the Atlanta Braves, though, for fantasy purposes. All right, so those are the top five free agents. And what we're going to do is we're going to take a break.

When we come back, we're going to hit on the three players who are most likely to be traded. And these are really big name players. So I'm trying to have some fun with it. And then we will get to the best of the rest. I just want to remind everybody that it is a very big golf week. Of course, the 2020 Masters are finally here. The first cut has all your golf needs as Tiger Woods begins his green jacket defense. This week at Augusta National.

tune into the First Cut Golf Podcast, part of the CBS Sports Podcast Network all week long for tournament previews, picks, and best bets, plus round by round recaps as the world's best tee off this Thursday. The First Cut crew is on the scene at Augusta National, ready to bring you every insight into a tradition unlike any other. Go listen to the First Cut Golf podcast wherever you like to listen to your podcast. Take a break. We'll be back right here, Fantasy Baseball today.

Perhaps the prize possession this. this off season is Francisco Lindor, who is not a free agent, but will be a free agent following next season. By the way, in 2021, the shortstop class of free agency is just ridiculous. It's Lindor, if he gets there, Trevor Story, Carlos Correa, Corey Seeger, just bananas. But I do think Francisco Lindor is going to be traded if you had to ask what percentage. I would say it's like a 90% chance got that Francisco Lindor is traded. I don't think Cleveland wants to pay him whatever he thinks he's worth,

which I personally think he's worth a lot. Scott, where do you think Francisco Lindor gets moved to? So, I think it's going to be the NL East. I think it's going to be either the Mets or the Phillies. I already gave J.T. Rio Muto from... I already gave J.T. Rio Muto to the Mets, coming from the Phillies, of course. So I'm going to say the Phillies return the favor

by trading for Francisco Lendor. Because, you know, they, they got to see, they got to feel like their windows starting to close. And they're looking to make a splash. And neither team's farm system is particularly deep, right? Like, I don't know what a one year from Francisco Lendor would fetch. I imagine it's going to be less than most people probably think, just because that's the way these trades have normally gone.

And probably less than what the Red Sox got for Mookie Bets, right? Yeah. And the Red Sox, of course, they got Verdugo and they got Jeter Downs, which it was like, it was an okay hall. But, you know, I mean, for Moogie Betts, probably underwhelming. Yeah, so I wonder if, like, if the Phillies would be, do you think the Phillies would be willing to move Spencer Howard? Is that, does that seem crazy? That seems kind of crazy. It doesn't seem crazy, but the timing of it kind of does, just because you're selling low on him.

Well, the thing is, like, there are a lot of these, there are a lot of arms that I could see being discount arms this off-season that the Phillies could use to, like, stock up, to stockpile to fill out their rotation. So, like, are they counting on much for Spencer Howard next year? They probably shouldn't. Probably not. If it's a window thing, I mean, they could go after Tanaka or Charlie Morton,

Marcus Stroman, Corey Kluber, James Paxton. get a couple of those guys and their rotation will be fine. Yeah. And they probably need at least a few of them. You know, I just don't know that, like, you don't see teams go all in on one year like that with, like, their very best prospect much anymore. But, you know, they, every, every team has these kind of, like,

second, third tier prospects where if you, you, you know, you're probably, you're probably in the discussion. I don't know. I could see it being Mets. I could see it being Phillies. Maybe I'm completely wrong. Like I said, this is a pretty stupid exercise. But to land on something to keep it moving,

I'm going to say Phillies. Okay. And I think that he is going to land in the east somewhere. I believe it will be with either one of the New York teams, the Yankees or the Mets, or it was rumored recently that the Toronto Blue Jays are kind of interested in Francis Gulen door. I mean, why not?

They're kind of ascending sooner than they thought they would. And it would be fun. I mean, you put Lindor with Bo Bichet, and they can move Bobichette's a third base, and whatever, Travis Shaw, it doesn't really matter much. But Lindor, with Bichet and Vladimir Guerrero, that would be fun. I think he winds up with the Mets.

I think it's a big offseason for the Metsies. Yeah, and I think that they can give up one of their shortstops in Amad Rosario, Andrus Jimenez. they have some prospects, maybe throw in an outfieler too, like a Brendan Nimmo or maybe even like a JD Davis or something like that.

And I think the Indians get a young shortstop, they get an outfieler that can help, and then maybe they throw in a prospect as well. And I think that's how we can see that trade happen. If the Blue Jays wanted to make a play for Lindor, I mean, they have, their farm system goes much deeper

than those other two teams. So they can certainly do that. Yeah, we shall see. But I think Lindor, winds up with the Mets. Scott says the Phillies, which brings us to our next trade target, Scott. Well, if the Rockies sign George Springer

like you think, they're probably not going to trade away Nolan Aronado. What? Well, let's... Well, never would put it past them. Never say never when it comes to the Rockies. But if the George Springer thing doesn't happen and Nolan Aronado wants to compete somewhere and they decide on

moving him, where do you think is a likely destination? Well, I've been trying to, I have access to your answers here. You have them typed out. I'm going a little more top of mind here. I've tried not to copy your answers, even though I think they're better than mine. I am going to go, I'm going to copy you on this one, though, just because it makes a ton of sense to me. Nolan Aeronado traded to the Cardinals.

Yeah. Yeah. How much would this affect Nolan Aronado's fantasy value, Scott? Because even if it's not the Cardinals, even if he's traded somewhere else, I don't think he's just going to completely fall off like some people think. But is he going to be a player over 900 OPS anymore? I don't think so. I think it's probably closer to like a mid-800s OPS.

Yeah, probably mid-800s. Kind of the way Matt Holiday fell off going from the Rockies to eventually the Cardinals with a brief stop with the athletics first. You know, it would be fun. What if you got traded to the Dodgers? Justin Turner's a free agent. Let's just put everybody on the Dodgers. They still have a deep enough farm system.

They can get anybody they want. They have all the money. They have a ton of prospects. Like, I can get anybody they want. Why wouldn't they go after Nolan Aeronauta? I mean, unless their data tells them he wouldn't be very good outside of course, feel, but after the year he just had, he might be a little discounted anyway.

I don't think there's anything wrong with him. I think he was dealing with shoulder stuff over a two-month span that warped his numbers. But I think he's going to be the same guy. So it's really just a question of how he fares outside of Colorado. Yeah, I'm thinking now, like, who would the Cardinals give up for him? because what would the Rockies accept to trade their friends? Like, he's still his years left that he's under contract, right? Or does he have an opt-out?

The opt-outs always throw me. He has an opt-out after next year. And he has a no-trade club. Okay, so this might just be a rental situation. But they do have some prospects at the top there. Yeah. I don't know that they'd give up, like, Carlson or Matthew Liberator. And I know that they gave up Randy Rose.

Arana to get Matthew Liberator. So they're hoping that he pans out. And there are some very high expectations for him. They have some names there at the top that, you know, if they want to get this done, I think that they can. Nolan Gorman. Yeah, Nolan Gorman's another one. Just third baseman for third baseman.

Yeah. I have Aronado going to, if he is moved, I have him going to the Cardinals as well. All right, I'm going to piggyback you. Piggy back with you on that one. All right, last but not least, possible trade candidate. Last week or two weeks ago, I brought up the possibility of you, Darvish being on the trade market, apparently the Cubs are looking to slash payroll. I don't know.

I won't believe it until it actually happens, but there have been rumors of them shopping Darvish and Chris Bryant and even Wilson Contreras here in the off season. And they're looking towards that next phase for the Chicago Cubs. So they could look to move you Darvish, Scott. Do you have anything in mind here? I mean, I don't think they're going to trade you Darvish. It's got the Braves actually have a farm system that can get this done. They do.

Give up Drew Waters? I mean, I would. I'm not a big Drew Waters guy. Yeah. I don't think the Cubs are going to trade you Darvish. So that's going to be my answer is just that he stays put. They just won the division. they turned him

I don't know how much credit they deserve for or whether it was all him but he's a clear ace now and you know they still have him for a few years at a price they were willing to pay when he was worse than he is now so to me it doesn't make a lot of sense

it's just one of those off-season talking points I'm going to say he sticks with the Cubs okay you know they got John Lester off the books that was a big chunk of money so you don't lose any points by saying the wrong answer here, Scott.

So I have the ability to gain 15 points if he is traded somewhere. Well, I don't get 15 points if he's not traded. That's not how this works? That's not what I was thinking. Because I would probably say he's going to remain with the Cubs too. Okay, fine.

If you just have to throw it, just throw a team out there, whatever. I will say you, Darvish gets traded to I don't know I put three interesting options there Scott if you want to steal any of those

feel free hang on let me check out let me check out one team's farm system here just give me give me one second there's there's a team with a major hole to fill in its rotation oh yeah oh yeah uh oh where's he going you uh you dervish

to the reds to the reds okay fill that void that Trevor Bauer leaves behind? Yeah. All right. That could be fun. I have the...

I thought that the twins and the Giants could be, you know, players here in the offseason and the twins always looking to, I think, to add some pitching there. So I will say the twins, I think that they have some prospects to get this done as well. So I will say you dervish to the twins in the offseason.

Scott says the Reds. Let's run through the rest of these real quick here. Scott. first man up is Marcus Troman. Any guess? Anywhere that needs a pitcher because I think he'll become, he'll come at a discounted rate. I'm going to say the Phillies here, ground ball pitcher in their small park. I think they'll target him. And that would give them a pretty formidable top three of Aaron Nola, Zach Wheeler,

and Marcus Stroman with Zach Eflin not far behind. I do think if the angels miss out on Bauer, they could be in the mix here for Marcus Tremont, but I'm actually going to say the White Sox. I think the White Sox needs some depth there at the top with, to join Dallas Keichael and to join Lucas Geelito. So I will say Marcus Treman is headed to the White Sox. Next up, Scott, we have Liam Hendricks who just, he did not lead baseball and saves. I believe that was Brad Hand.

But he was up there and he has been one of the best relievers over the past two seasons. So Liam Hendricks, what do you think he lands? there are a lot of teams good teams that could use a closer I like your answer that you have here but I am going to go with Liam Hendricks I would say the Phillies for Liam Hendricks too

the Phillies are getting everybody this offseason yeah except JT Real Muto they get they get an offseason of Francisco Lindor Marcus Stroman and Liam Hendrix according to Scott that'd be pretty fun any Phillies fans out there listening.

Not a bad off season coming for you. I have Hendricks headed to the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. He stays within the division somewhere he's comfortable in the American League West. And we all know that they can use a closer after some failed experiments this past year with your boy, Ty Buttree. Next up we have Marcus Simeon. Scott, where's he headed? I can't have him stick in the same place and get points for it. We've done that.

We both said just not for. for trades. Not for trade. For free agents, you can't. Yeah, yeah. You could have him go back to the A's. Yeah, I think I'll go back to the A's after a bad season. They'll be able to afford him.

They'll want him back. I think he's back with A's. Yeah, so I have two back-to-back A's players headed to the Angels. So Liam Hendricks and Marcus Simian, the Angels have a need at shortstop. Anderson Simmons is a free agent. Of course, they can bring Simmons back, but I think Simmons winds up signing somewhere else, and the Angels signed Marcus Semyon. Next shortstop we have

D.D. Gregorius. Is he leaving the Phillies? Yes. Because they have Lendor now. Right. That is correct. He's going back to the Yankees. Ooh. That's fun.

Yeah. Oh, okay. I can move him with Torres over to second base. That takes care of the LaMayhew lost. Comes cheaper than LaMayhew. Yep. And they, Yankees fans love the guy, right? I love the guy.

and he has provided one of my favorite postseason moments in recent years. Obviously that home run they hit off the Minnesota Twins, and I believe it was the wild card game, was just absolutely ridiculous. So I love Didi Gregorius, and Scott has him going back to the Yankees. I have him going back to his original team, the Cincinnati Reds, which would help strengthen an already pretty good lineup. And I think it would be pretty good for his fantasy value as well.

Didi Gregorius to the Reds. Scott Michael Brantle, is he leaving Houston? Well, I'm going to hedge my bet here and say he goes to the Braves. Probably not if they get Ozuna. That's where the hedge comes in. But he does seem like a guy

who will be within their price range. And I think still a very good hitter, obviously doesn't have near the power potential of an Ozuna, but they're going to want to replace offense. You know, I brought up Nelson Cruz as a positive. possibility if if a zuna leaves you don't have them on the list here so i'm gonna say i'm gonna hedge my bet and say brantley to the braves and i have brantley headed back to the houston astros they lose george springer and i think they need somebody else in the middle of that lineup why not

bring back brantley he's been very good with them the past two seasons scott masahiro tanaco oh gosh um i was going to say braves for him too but this is becoming a joke a joke a joke joke. Whatever. Yeah, Braves. Your Braves are going to steal away my guy, huh? Because nobody's excited about Masahiro Tanaka anymore. That just seems like the guy,

you know, they can expect to get some innings out of them, hope he doesn't. He's not so home run prone out of the A.L. East and not cost them very much. So, yeah, I'm going to say to the Braves. Sorry. Sorry, I know I'm becoming, I'm definitely coming off as a homer here. I'm sorry. Scott and I are dueling for the services of Masahiro-Tanaka

because I think he's headed back to the New York Yankees, the only team that he's pitched for so far in his career, and I think he has, there's familiarity there. Does it really matter much for fantasy? Not really. He's back into your fantasy rotation. He's a bench guy, probably at this point. You stream him in the right matchups.

But Masahiro Tanaka back to the Yankees. Scott, how about James Paxton? Will he be going back to the Yankees? No, I don't think he'll be going back to the Yankees. I could see him going to the Braves, but I'm going to stop hedging there. I could see him going to the Phillies if they don't get somebody like Marcus Stroman.

Like that group of pitchers I talked about, Charlie Morton, Masahiro Tanaka, Marcus Stroman, Corey Klobber, who we're not really going to get into here. And Paxton. So that's a group of five pitchers who, I think the potential reward is going to outweigh the cost. and so I could see the Phillies and the Braves fighting over those two, that group,

and maybe one or both of them coming away with a couple, depending on, I could be wrong, maybe they'll get a ton of money, but I don't expect them to. Having said that, I'm going to send Paxton to the Angels. Back in the AL Westray was at his best, another big ballpark. They just had some success, getting Dylan Bundy on the right track after that same division switch. So I'm going to say Paxton to the Angels.

they still have some needs to address there. The Big Maple is headed back to Toronto. Not back like he's ever been there before, but he's from Canada, so he's going back to his homeland. James Paxson, I have him landing with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Blue Jays need to kind of be scrappy with the rotation and maybe pick up a few of those names that you mentioned as well, Scott.

So I have James Paxson going to the Blue Jays. Kevin Gossman. Does he go anywhere? No, he got a qualifying offer from the Giants. He was one of only six plays. to get a qualifying offer. He was by far the most surprising. And, you know, coming off a very interesting season where you knew he was going to get money from somebody,

I think that somebody just might end up being the Giants though, him accepting the qualifying offer. Yeah, I'm not sure if he's going to accept a qualifying offer, but even if he doesn't, I think he works out a multi-year deal with the Giants. So I think he stays in San Francisco as well. Scott, if you're allowed to be a homer, I'm allowed to be a homer as well. And I have Charlie Morton, who just got, his option declined by the Tampa Bay raise.

He spurns the team that let him go, that let him leave. Sorry, that was bad English. And he will head to my New York Yankees on a one-year deal. Well, you're wrong. He's not going to your team on a one-year deal. He's going to my team. They know the one-year reclamation projects when they see him. They know Charlie Morton well because he was originally their property before

carelessly being traded to the pirates among other players for Nate McClough by one Frank Renn obviously took a long time for Charlie Morton to get good after that but still it looks bad on paper they're going to remedy that they're going to sign them to a one-year deal

they're going to have him and Masahira Tanaka leading the kiddos in that rotation and it's going to be a much better rotation. Last but at least James McCann, we suspect he will leave the White Sox because can they really afford to pay both him and Yasmani Grandal? He winds up somewhere else as a starter.

I assume, Scott, where is that location? Yes, who needs a catcher? I'm going to... Philly. Yeah. Yep, that's what I was going to say. Because I have the Phillies losing JT. Rio Muto. I'm going to send him to Philly as one of four players,

four major acquisitions for them this offseason. Maybe I'm not that much of a homer, because the Phillies are looking pretty tough at this point. Hey, the whole National League East is looking pretty good, Scott. Whichever doesn't get real muto. It's going to get in McCann. That's the consolation prize. Between the Mets and the Phillies, one of those scenes.

I have the Tampa Bay Rays actually picking up James McCann. They chose not to accept Mike Zanino's option. So he's a free agent, and they have a need of catcher. And apparently there are some rumors that, despite turning down Morton that they can spend a little bit here in the off season. I think James McCann winds up with the Tampa Bay Rays. All right, Scott, how are you feeling about your picks? A lot of Braves, a lot of Phillies.

Not good, Frank. Not good. I suspect I will get a few points from this exercise, and it was a waste of time for everybody involved. Well, that's a great way to end today's podcast. This was our 2020-2020, 2021 free agency. Invitational, where hopefully I will be dominating Scott all offseason. For Scott, I am Frank. They go all for listening and watching Fantasy Baseball today on our

YouTube channel. We'll be back again on Wednesday with Chris Welsh to talk about prospects. Bye-bye!